Easter Weekend

Ava was with us this year for spring break and luckily Easter fell on that week. She arrived on Saturday morning. When she got here the kids were super excited to see each other. Cirdan ran some errands for Ella's birthday party later that day while I got the girls pictures taken with the Easter bunny. I was feeling guilty that Ava wasn't in a picture we took the week before... so I gave them an option to go back to the Easter bunny for pictures again. The girls said yes, they got their matching dresses on and we headed to the mall. There was a short line and we had to wait a bit so the girls danced around. Afterwards, we went and got a pretzel and then headed home to decorate for Ella's party. When we got home we gave Ava her presents from Grandma and Grandpa Imbler. Ella's party was fun and I think I will do another blog about her party. That night after the party we decorated Easter eggs. It was getting late but we just had to do it before Easter! We had a couple mishaps...the blue dye got bumped and spilled all over. Yikes.

The next morning the girls woke up and realized the Easter bunny had been to our house! We usually don't do a Easter bunny hiding eggs in the morning thing but decided to this year. The girls got their matching Easter baskets that were full with goodies and then went on the hunt for eggs. I was surprised how well Ella did! She was able to find a lot of eggs all on her own!
We then had some delicious breakfast. Cirdan and I made a french toast casserole the night before so we had to just put it in the oven and cooked it. We got ready for the day and made some green beans with caramelized onions for Easter lunch. I think most of the morning was actually spent trying to take away the candy that Ella had just gotten. She ate way too much and she kept finding some around the house. We went over to my Gramee's house for the 2nd session of General Conference and food. We had ham, turkey, funeral potato's, green beans, rolls, salad and more! After conference we had birthday cake for everyone with birthdays on March and April. Since it was Ella's actual birthday she got to open presents from my family. Ella loves bubbles and my mom got her a bubble machine so uncle Nate went outside and hooked up the machine for the kids.
We went home and just relaxed with the girls. It was a very nice Easter.

On Monday Cirdan had to work for a few hours in the morning so while he was working the girls got ready and played outside with the bubbles. It was a sunny nice morning. They also wanted the music on so they could have a dance party. This time Ava was here was different than the other times. We usually have a bunch of fun activities planned but since I haven't been really feeling well we laid low and hung out at home a lot. I think the girls enjoyed playing at home. Ava wanted to stay that night but her mom said no so Cirdan took her over to her Grandmas house at about 8:30pm. On Tuesday morning we picked her up at 10:00 and headed to the mall to Build a Bear. Ava had never been. There is a recording device and Cirdan and I thought it might be cute for her to have a bear that when she pushed the paw the bear would be Cirdan's voice saying her loved her. We then came home, ate lunch and the girls played. Ava went home that night around 5:00.
We have a lot of fun when Ava is here. She likes visiting and she has made many comments about wishing she could live at our house. Its sad that she is so far away. We are just grateful she is now in our lives. Cirdan and Kaiya talk to her on the phone or on skype a couple times a week. She will be here again in July for a week.

Puget Sound Moving update (Cirdan)

We moved to a new office/warehouse the 1st of March. I worked out of the house for the last year. My goal was to be in an office 1 year after I started the business. It was exactly a year. Things have been busy since we moved. I am definitely able to be a bit more productive without the distractions that working out of the house brings.

Tomorrow we will be delivering 4 of the 16 new projectors for Regal Cinema. There will be a crew of 4 delivering them over the next four days. We work with Omni Logistics who handles the Regal account.

We have one dedicated truck to deliver new furniture purchased from McChord AFB and Fort Lewis. We provide next day delivery for their customers. A logistics company out of Texas found us in October, and we've had the account since then.

The moving business has picked up due to a few things. Its the season now....spring and summer are always busier than winter. Our company has been going for a year and we are getting a bit more exposure. We have been working long hours making sure things go well. Our family has been blessed with the success of the business, it's nice to have Heidi home with the girls.

I was able to buy two trucks just before we moved. Next will be some decals on each of them.

Here are a couple of pictures where we worked at the past year....

The other garage is where we kept all of our packing supplies and equipment.

This is the front of the Office/Warehouse we moved to in Kent.

Gracie's and Gramee's birthday parties

My cousins daughter, Gracie, turned 2 the week before Ella turned 2. She had a birthday party at Build a Bear. It was Ella's first time. I was surprised how fun it was! Ella picked out a cute little doggy.

Cirdan helped Ella dress her dog. What a good dad.

Afterwards, we went to Red Robin with everyone. Ella was getting really tired so we left hoping that she would fall asleep in her stroller. That night we were meeting my mom's side of the family to celebrate my Gramee's birthday at a Mexican restaurant. But before that we met my brother and Amy in Factoria to watch Emma while they went to the temple. While we waited we walked around Factoria mall. Emma was really good...Ella was a little stinker. We finally got to dinner and it was good to see everyone and to wish Gram a Happy Birthday.

This was the only picture I got of dinner...and only half the people there.

Math Concert

Math concert? I had never heard of one until Kaiya came home with a flyer inviting the parents of 2nd graders to come listen to their concert. The music teacher at the school had been working with the 2nd graders on songs that have to do with math and it was really cute. It was funny to see my little performer so shy and not wanting to dance around. The kids did great and it's fun for them to be able to learn math and have fun with it!

Kaylee's Birthday

My little sister turned 20! She wanted Mexican food so Cirdan's asked his employee's mom to make some homemade tamales and I took a stab at making authentic rice and beans. They actually turned out pretty tasty....and the tamales were delicious!!
We ate, the kids played and wrestled with Papa and we ate cake and ice cream.
Happy Birthday Kaylee!! We love you!!!

Stacey borrowed my Dad's glasses for the picture...

Then we tried to put them on the kids....

Funny story - Kaylee and I went to the dollar store last week and the girl at the register asked us if we were sisters. I said, "yes" and she then asked if we were twins. I replied (with a chuckle), "no, there is a 10 year difference!" She then asked if I was the older or the younger one. I told her the older one and she said, "wow, I would have thought you were the younger one!!"

And that was one of the best days of my life. Sorry Kaylee!!! :)

Easter Bunny Pictures - Past and Present

It was fun to pull the Easter pictures out and to see the girls each year. Kaiya has grown up so fast and looking at these pictures makes me miss my little sweetpea.
I had taken Ella to the mall a couple of times the last couple weeks and I would make sure to stop by where the Easter bunny sits so that Ella could see the bunny and hopefully not freak out when it was time for pictures. Each time we went she wanted to see the bunny but keep a distance. She would wave but when I would start getting closer she would start getting scared. I had a brilliant idea about an hour before we went to get pictures that maybe if I pulled out the pictures of Kaiya and the Easter Bunny she would see that it wasn't so bad. It worked! She talked all the way to the mall about sitting on his lap and when we got there she gave him a couple high 5's and she was ready to sit on his lap and smile! We were all so proud of her.
The pictures begin with 2004 and end with this year 2010.

She's definitely my daughter...

Olives for breakfast!

The word on the street...

Baby Imbler due to arrive the end of October!

March Update

I just realized I haven't posted anything since February! I haven't really been feeling like sitting at the computer these days. This month has been fun and adventurous. I have been trying to get Cirdan to do a post about his new office and hopefully one of these days he will have the time! :)

Kaiya - She has still been busy with dance and piano. Kaiya got her report card last Friday and did VERY well. Almost all the marks were a + which means Above Grade Level. She increased in reading by an additional 38 words per minute since the 1st trimester. At school she is a Greeter which means one of the few students chosen to welcome the new kid and show them around the school. Kaiya turns 8 on May 3rd which means she will be baptized on May 8th. She is really excited and so are we!!

Kaiya was so excited to pull green out of her closet and find something to wear for St. Patrick's Day. She looked cute.

Ella - I've been working hard with Ella these past few weeks to get her to learn how to behave better. The last month we have been struggling with taking her to the store because she doesn't want to sit in the cart. She fights and its impossible to sit her down. We now just walk her back out to the car and put her back in her car seat which she sometimes doesn't mind (ha ha). Its been a struggle but I think she is finally realizing that she is better off sitting down in the cart. I have also taken a lot more time sitting down with her at her level and talking to her when she is looking in my eyes. I've learned this works much better.

Ella and I started a Mommy and Me class at Kaiya's dance place last week. She did great!!! There were about 6 other little girls and I was proud that she listened and tried to do the stuff that the instructor had them do.

Cirdan - Since he now has an office we hardly see him anymore. It went from him being at the house during the day almost all the time to him never being here and getting home from work around 8 at night. Its been different but he has really been putting all his energy into building a successful business and all his work is really paying off.

Heidi - Other than cleaning the house over and over and over and over again I try to get out and meet my friend Sandy or go shopping. It has almost been 1 year since I was laid off and this past year has been nothing but fun and good times. I am busy now planning Ella's 2nd birthday and Easter in the next couple weeks. The weather has been beautiful and I really need to get outside and do some yard work.

We booked our flight for Hawaii in May!! Greg and Staci (friends) and Cirdan and I will be going. We will stay at a condo on Turtle bay. I am so excited! A little scared and nervous about leaving the girls that long but it will be nice to just be able to lay on a sandy beach and relax. We are looking forward to it!!